Chapter 27

Sharpay read a magazine as she waited in the doctor's office. She had been waiting for a while now.

"Ms. Evans?"

Sharpay looked up to see a woman standing in front of her.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Emmy will be fine. She has some injuries, but she'll recover. Do you know who gave her those injuries." "I'll tell you. It was Jack Bolton, also known as Coach Bolton, also know as a jackass."

The woman drew back. "Do you know where we can reach him?"

"No."

"Well, we need to let somebody know that her, um, is it her father?" "No, he's her uncle."

"Oh. We need to let somebody know that her uncle is hurting her like this."

Sharpay set her magazine down.

"So, you don't know what number I could use to contact him?" "I said no."

"Then I guess I'll call 911."

Sharpay nodded, showing that she agreed with this idea.

The nurse walked away.

Sharpay looked around. She may be here for a while.

****

Gabriella dialed in Sharpay's number.

"Hello?"

"Sharpay?" "Yeah?"

"This is Gabriella."

"Oh, hi!"

"I'm calling because I found out that Emmy has been abused."

"No worries. I found her. She's in the doctor's office right now."

"So, she's okay?"

"Yep!"

Gabriella sighed with relief. "That's good."

"Uh, Gabriella, I need to tell you something. It's about Troy…."

"What?"

Sharpay sighed into the phone. "Well, it's difficult to tell you, but…."

Sharpay's phone beeped. The signal was lost.

****

Velma sighed as she lay against Troy. She was watching his teammates play basketball.

"Velma, I'd better go in and practice," Troy said, slowly getting up. "You're gonna stay, right?"

Velma sat up. "Of course I'm gonna stay! Remember, after this we're gonna go get our outfits for the dance!"

Troy nodded. He ran out onto the court.

Velma smiled in spite of herself. She felt really good.

Her phone began to ring. She looked down at it. It was her brother, Bob.

"What do you want, Bob?"

"Velma, when are you going to get home?!"

"Why does it frickin matter?!" "Because I have nothing to do!"

"Go out with that retard Emmy."

"No way! You told me I could dump her after I messed her up! This was all your idea, me getting with Emmy! Just so you could get to Troy Bolton. You sicken me."

"Shut up, you idiot. Troy isn't that far away, so he could here us. So be quiet."

"But--"

"Goodbye."

Velma hung up her phone. Yes, it was true: she was the one who wanted Emmy to get addicted to drugs. She was the one who ruined Emmy. She was the one who made the closeness of Troy and Emmy disappear.

Velma put her feet up on the bleachers. She didn't feel one bit of guilt. She was proud of what she had done, because it had worked.

****

Emmy grasped onto the metal pole that was part of her bed. The pain was unbearable. She screamed.

"You'll be fine, Ms. Bolton, quit worrying."

Emmy began to breathe hard. She kicked and screamed as the doctor continued to put more bandages on her.

"Quit kicking, you're acting like you're five."

Sandy sighed. Right now, she felt like she was five.

"We're almost done," the nurse said, putting on the finishing touches.

Emmy was still grasping onto the pole.

"There. All done."

Emmy let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, do not leave this room, not that you could, but still. Just relax. Okay?"

Emmy nodded, even though she wasn't really listening. She sighed once more, closing her eyes.

The doctor left Emmy.

Emmy felt tears forming into her eyes. Why did everything go wrong? Nothing could ever go right with her.

She opened her eyes and looked out the window. The sun was out, yet she didn't feel any better.

She closed her eyes again. She had been through so much. She sighed once more, aching all over.